1. Field of the Invention
The present invention falls within the field of control methods for electromechanical assemblies and provides a method and means for controlled management of a mobile element, driven by an electric motor with a safety mechanism to avoid an injuring action by said element whether against a part or limb of a user, causing crushing, or against an object or structural part against which said mobile element might be susceptible of colliding in its movement, immediately and automatically adopting in the face of such an event suitable countermeasures, thus stopping and reversing the displacement movement of said mobile element.
The invention is particularly applicable to a window panel opening device for a vehicle, driven by a DC electric motor with a multi-polar permanent magnet, with a safety mechanism so as to not entrap and/or exercise a crushing force on an object interposed in the trajectory of said window pane, such as a limb or part of a person, even though its field of application can be generalized to any kind of mobile panel or window pane driven by an electric motor of such features, being its main objects precision in detection and speed of response and consequently the possibility it offers for the near-immediate adoption of the aforementioned countermeasures to avoid said non-desired entrapment or crushing situation and progress thereof.
The proposed method is also adequate for controlling an electromechanically guided seat, avoiding collisions against other vehicle parts or strikes against user parts eventually interposed in the trajectory of the mobile element.
The invention also provides some programs, loadable into the internal memory of a computer, to perform several of the steps of the method according to the invention, particularly the entrapment or collision detection algorithm, and a velocity control auxiliary algorithm.
2. Description of the Related Art
In relation with electronic control devices, with anti-crushing safety, associated to an electric motor, intended to drive a panel such as a vehicle's window pane or another similar mobile element, many executions of systems and methods are known, being capable of mentioning patents EP-A-267064, DE-A-4315637, EP-A-714052, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,002,228, 5,994,858, 5,983,567, 5,949,207, and 5,945,796.
In the methods and systems disclosed in the cited patents generally the use of position detectors and current sensors is proposed, so as to provide information intended to run a control algorithm. In some of the patents there is also mention of the use of detectors of the motor's angular velocity and/or detectors of said motor's driving torque.
Patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,492 refers to an operative mechanism to actuate the top of a convertible vehicle, where, in the case of use of a DC motor, it is proposed that an electronic control performs detection and calculation of voltage and current peaks by means of, among several alternatives, switching the motor (ripple counting technique).